A Church Not Made with Hands: Christianity as Spiritual Experience [Paperback]

Michael Roden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2005

"The Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands." —Acts 7:48

A Church Not Made with Hands is written for those who are seeking a deeper spiritual connection to Jesus. Using Jesus' own words, Michael Roden strips away centuries of dogma to reveal the mysticism underlying the New Testament—and Christian spirituality.

Citing hundreds of biblical passages, Roden shows how spiritual experience underlies the most important elements of Christian belief and doctrine. Spiritual experience and psychological transformation played an integral and essential part in every aspect of the religion of the earliest Christians, Roden says, and must not be neglected by Christians today.

A Church Not Made with Hands recalls the idea of a spiritual church—spoken of in the New Testament—and reminds us that we must delve more deeply into human psychology if we are to understand, share, and deepen our spiritual experience.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing (November 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571744487
• ISBN-13: 978-1571744487
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Roden is the author of the newly published Amazon Kindle book, Paradise Re-envisioned, an epic poetic journey through the Bible via the minds of its most revered spiritual figures. He has been studying spirituality and related subjects for nearly 30 years. "I've been writing ever since I learned to write," he says about making books for his family and himself in elementary school. "And I've been drawn to spirituality for even longer. I remember as a pre-school aged child being fascinated by the imagery of the Genesis story of creation, so much so that I tried to breathe life into a little man I'd made of clay. While I was glad the little guy never came alive because I wouldn't have known what to do with him, I've been studying spirituality and spiritual experiences ever since that time." Michael went on to research the Bible, Christianity, Spirituality, Philosophy, Literature, and of course Psychology.

Only after years of study and taking copious notes did Michael begin to set his works into print. His first two books were Jesus and Ourselves (1996) and Songs of the Morning (1997), which books show the two sides to Michael's spiritual writing: his research-based material in the former and his love of poetic form in the latter. He learned quite a bit about Literary and Historical Biblical Criticism and both Eastern and Western Religions. And of course he keeps up on Psychology as well, having been a Counselor for over 25 years.

His study and research formed the basis of his poetry. His previous book, A Church Not Made with Hands (Hampton Roads, 2007) cited over 60 other works and used hundreds of Bible passages. "Although all my spiritual work is Biblically-based, it emphasizes the spirit and love in the Bible as opposed to what is often emphasized."